Senior Egyptian sources confirmed that the incoming Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar, and the head of the National Security Council (National Security Council), Eyal Hulta, arrived in Egypt today (Sunday) and met with their counterparts.
The two met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamal, and discussed with him, among other things, the issue of settlement in Gaza and the deal of prisoners and missing persons with Hamas.
Earlier, it was reported in the Arab media that a high-level Israeli security delegation led by Hulata arrived in Cairo today for discussions with the heads of the defense establishment in Egypt.
According to a senior official, the issues raised by the Egyptian and Israeli officials dealt mainly with the continued tightening of security and intelligence cooperation between Israel and Egypt, as well as the issue of rehabilitating and regulating the Gaza Strip - regardless of the indirect contacts between Israel and Hamas.
Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip,
The senior Egyptian source added that despite the intense contacts in recent times and the reports that significant progress has been made, the possibility of a deal between Israel and Hamas is not in sight;
"It cannot be said at the moment that there is a dramatic change in the position of the parties with regard to the progress towards a prisoner deal in the near future."
However, it should be noted that the Arab newspaper Al-Arabi al-Jadid reported that the Egyptian head of intelligence, Abbas Kamel, would arrive in Israel in about two weeks in order to present to Prime Minister Bennett the basic outline of the exchange of prisoners and missing persons between Hamas and Israel. The consent of Hamas, which is now awaiting Israel's response on the matter.
Prime Minister Bennett and Egyptian President al-Sisi, Photo: Kobi Gideon - GPO
As you may recall, about two months ago, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh in Sinai, and said, among other things: "In the meeting, we created an infrastructure for a deep connection to the way forward."
Last week, a rare photo was published of a meeting of the joint committee of the IDF and the Egyptian army.
During the meeting, an amendment was signed to the agreement between the two countries, which included a series of guards present in the Rafah area for what was defined as "increasing the security grip" of the Egyptian army in the area, but in practice the additional force Israel authorized Egypt to enter Sinai was not revealed.